Valor glides across the sky, majestic and bold, until he spots something that could be of use to his partner. He places his wings upon his side and dives straight towards the earth, but comes to a gentle stop in a nearby tree branch.

"What did you see up there, Val?" He squawks once, and faces his beak towards the directions of an abandoned shack sitting in the forest. Quinn takes a deep breath, and continues to drag Talon into the forest. She waves her hand to Valor, and aims at the sky as she walks. "Stay on the lookout, Val."

Almost immediately, Valor hops off the branch and takes off back into the sky and out of sight, leaving Quinn alone with the unconscious Talon. She can hear his muttering, so it's rather soothing to her to know that he is at least still alive. However, what he is saying she can't understand, but it definitely appears to make him happy as he smiles and chuckles every now and then.

"If only you knew the situation you were in, you wouldn't be laughing you idiot..." Quinn thinks to herself.

Meanwhile...inside the mind of Talon

I know that I'm inside my own mind as there is nothing but white all around me. I assume that I'm close to dying once again, and quickly come to terms with it, so I just decide to walk to keep me distracted. I soon come upon a lone hooded figure sitting on a bench. The figure has a large scythe leaning on the bench, and in its hand, it looks like a martini. The figure quickly downs the drink into the darkness of its hood as it sees me approaching. It tosses the empty glass off to the side, and reveals its skeletal hands as it motions for me to take a seat next to it.

Since it's my imagination, I decide there's no harm in doing so, so I take a seat. The hooded figure sits in silence as it reaches under its robe and pulls out a notepad. The sound of pages flipping is all that I can hear, but then it abruptly stops with a 'there we are'. The figure then takes a look at me as I stare into the darkness of its hood.

"Talon...yes?"

I nod my head in response, so it looks back at its notepad and begins to make a 'tsk' sound.

"Looks like you're going to Hell, buddy."

The hooded figure's voice is deep, yet refined, but his words confuse me. "Umm...what?"

He looks at his notepad as he clears his throat and places a finger to help him keep track of where he's reading. "Let's see...a lot of murders, multiple armed robberies, two dozen assaults, rioting, manslaughter, membership in a cult...yep. There's, like, zero chance at redemption for you."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

He laughs, and tosses his notepad away. "Do you know who I am?" I nod for no so he stretches his bones out above his head. "Well, I'm the Grim Reaper...but you can just call me Death." Once he's done stretching, he rests his bones across the bench. "You know, you have kept me busy for a while, sending person after person my way, so I've got to thank you for that."

"Hold on, hold on...this...this isn't my imagination?" Death nods his head. "So...I'm...I'm dead?"

"Well, not yet. But in about..." Death rolls back his sleeve and reveals a watch on his skeletal arm, and begins to hum as he looks at it, "five minutes you're going to bleed out." He then releases his sleeve and rests his arms on the bench again. "So just hang tight, and I'll transport you to Hell in a few."

"Wait, wait, wait...I'm seriously dead?"

Death sighs. "For the millionth time, yes! I thought you were prepared to die? You keep saying you're glad to die, or that death will be better than living your shitty life? What the fuck happened?" Death's mouth becomes visible, but everything else in his hood is still out of sight, and he smiles. "Don't tell me...you fear death?"

My jaw dropped...I...I'm really dead. "I don't fear death...it's just that most of the time...things kind of work out for me, you know?"

Death nods his head. "Luck runs out, kid. You may get lucky a trillion times, but who knows...that trillion and one might be your downfall."

"Yeah, no kidding." I rest my hands on my chin, and place my elbows on my knee to help hold my face up as I slouch forward. "So...once I'm taken to Hell, what happens?"

Death taps his chin, and then begins to rub it. "Well, first they'll determine how much punishment you deserve for the sins you've committed in life. And to be honest, you're probably going to be joining the worst of the worst in eternal damnation."

I sigh. "Man...that sucks." Death mumbles 'mhm' in response.

"Tell you what...since your eternity is going to suck, how about you tell me your regrets? I can tell you the answer to 'what-ifs', as in, what if I hadn't done that or something like that."

Death's proposition sounds interesting. And I do remember before passing out I did want to try some things in life...but I guess I can't anymore. "Alright...what if I enrolled in school instead of taking Marcus's offer of being an assassin?"

"Ooo, jumping straight to the big ones, eh? I like it!" Without warning, Death reaches out and grabs hold of my face, and forces me to stare into the darkness of his hood. Suddenly, I begin to see colors...and soon after I see...I see me! And...and I'm surrounded by...people...? Not just Cassie, Kat, and Riven...but a whole mix of different people I've never seen before! And...it looks like I'm laughing and making them laugh...

I rip myself from Death's grip, and begin to gasp for air quickly as Death laughs. "So...what did you see? Are you content with the choice you have made?" Death's skeletal jaw reveals itself once more as he smiles in anticipation for my answer.

"I saw...I saw me laughing and having a good time with a lot of friends..." I swallow a lump in my throat that began to build up, "I looked like a fucking idiot! So yeah...I'm glad I became an assassin."

Death's smile disappears as he begins to mumble in confusion. "But- What-" ... "Why aren't you upset at your choice?"

"What do you mean? Did you even see how I looked...I looked like an entirely different person. A complete fool." I rest my arms on the bench as Death stares at me, and I look at the blank whiteness above me. "Alright, I no longer have regrets."

"Bullshit! That cannot be your only regret!" Death grabs his notepad from his robe once more, and begins to frantically flip through it. "What about not returning the love of Raven, or Liz, or Casey, or Flynn! What about not knowing who your parents are! What about all those people you killed! Give me something to work with man!"

It is now my turn to be confused as Death begins to sound frustrated for having no regrets. "Why are you so upset?"

"I faked that image so you could be upset! How can you possibly see it as a plus to not be able to live a normal, and happy life! What the fuck is wrong with you! Even the most psycho serial killers wished they had a friend or two when they were kids-"

I can't help but laugh at Death's confusion. "I guess the powerful Grim Reaper had some wrong information on my personality." I tell him smugly, causing him to chuckle.

"Indeed I did. Usually, I'm on the button when it comes to guessing people's deepest desires...but very rarely do I come across unique individuals who I can't read." Death then scratches his head. "Or maybe...maybe you are interested in having a love life...you just won't admit it."

Oh shit...I'm not going to lie I am pretty curious, but I won't let him know that. "Hmph...wrong again." Death throws his head back in laughter.

"I guess, man. Whatever helps you sleep at night!" Death rolls back his sleeve and taps the watch strapped to his wrist. "Hm...strange. It says you have another ten minutes to live when it just said five- Wait...what the fuck is going on? Your death timer is getting longer and longer!"

"Ha! What did I say! Things somehow always work out for me!" Death sighs and stands up.

"Once again, you have eluded me, Blade's Shadow. But my words still ring true..." Death holds his hand out, and his scythe begins to levitate and fly right into his hands, "luck runs out. Enjoy what little amount of time you have left...because you'll never know if it will be your last."

Death turns his back to me, and slowly fades into nothingness, leaving me alone on the bench. Even though I'm glad I have somehow survived that devastating injury, I can't help but think of how I want to live my life just a bit differently after this experience. This was the closest I've ever come to dying...so close, in fact, I met Death himself.

The only problem now...is what in the hell kind of situation am I going to wake up to?

Back in reality, inside the small shack

Quinn fights back her nausea as she tears off pieces of Talon's shirt and stuffs it into his stab wound to stop the bleeding. She screams to herself each time as Talon shakes violently as she puts the cloth deep into his cuts...but at the same time that movement of his calms her down since it's a sign that he's alive. Quinn sits on her knees beside Talon nervously, and taps her fingers on the wooden floor to distract herself.

After a few minutes of nothing, she notices the blood has stopped pouring out of his body and that his breathing has become steady. She blushes and fights through the embarrassment and places her ear upon Talon's chest...closes her eyes...and listens...

*BA-THUMP* ... *BA-THUMP ... *BA-THUMP*

She removes her head from his chest and exhales a sigh of relief. His heartbeat is calm...a good sign that his body has begun the healing process.

Finally able to relax, Quinn just sits and stares at the unconscious Talon. She then looks around the shack, and notices a chest sitting against the wall. Curious, she stands up and walks to the chest and takes a look at the lock. The padlock protecting the contents inside is rusted, so Quinn is able to yank it off with ease. She lifts the top open and gasps at the items inside.

A sleeping bag, a battery operated lantern, an empty water canteen, a bag of imperishable snacks, a compass, and a...oh...that's a porno magazine. Quinn comes the realization that this shed is someone's hideout. Possibly belonging to a criminal, or a doomsday believer. Although she knows it's wrong to take things that don't belong to her, she decides Talon could make use of these when he awakens. At the thought of his name, Quinn looks over at Talon and sees him squirming around. She quickly places everything back into the chest and rushes over to Talon's side. She notices that his blade is still attached to his arm, and decides to take it off, but as she slides it off, the Talon rolls over and knocks Quinn onto the floor beside him. He then wraps his arms around her and begins to slide his head snugly into her neck.

Quinn nearly faints at the stimulation of being cuddled by Talon, and attempts to break free. His grip, however, tightens each time she tries to slip free.

"Talon...please, let go!" She whispers in hopes that he'll hear...instead what she hears nearly melts her heart.

"Lonely..." Is all he says in his sleep.

"Lonely? Does that mean he's lonely? Is he saying that I'm lonely?" Quinn thinks to herself.

Not sure how to interpret Talon's response, Quinn soon succumbs to her exhaustion and desire and embraces Talon as well. Not long after, her eyes become heavy, and she falls into a peaceful slumber in the arms of Talon.

Author's Note: Talon x Quinn seems like a popular ship. But I say nay! Talon x Duskblade of Draktharr is now canon.